


Kill of the Night

by 48eyesand32teeth1sharptongue



Category: Supernatural, The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: 2019 reuploads, Abandoned For Now, Angst, Don't copy to another site, Friendship, Gen, Implied Noncon, Jack centric, Jack is Sam's Son, Panic Attacks, Season 1 Episode 8: I Heard A Rumor, Spoilers for Umbrella Academy, Trans Sam Winchester, s13 spoilers, vanya centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:02:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24855796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/48eyesand32teeth1sharptongue/pseuds/48eyesand32teeth1sharptongue
Summary: Vanya did not sign up for babysitting duty, but when all is said and done, it's probably for the best.
Relationships: Vanya Hargreeves & Jack Kline
Kudos: 44





	Kill of the Night

Alone.

Leonard isn't here, he's gone, and when the door slams...

The whole house shakes on it's foundations, the sound of the birds and the wind-chimes fading out as the shutters rattle on their hinges and the hanging lights squeak on their hinges.

Vanya's heartbeat pounds too hard inside her chest. It's physical blow each time, and the walls close in, because she's alone, she's trapped-

There's a metallic taste in her mouth, a pounding in her ears as she looks at her reflection and remembers the way her fists connected with concrete and metal, staring out from one window into nothing-

Vanya tries not to look at the echo of her reflects and trips to get out, to search the house.

Nothing.

Her fists clench tighter, and she circles back, aimless, a fish in too small a bowl, completely abandoned, ( _like you always are_ ) only she doesn't listen because thinking about that will only make it worse-

Vanya can't meet her own eyes in the mirror as she glances up again, can't help it, the memory of blood in her mouth and screams in her throat and being too small and-

She wrenches her gaze away, and stumbles into the room with the throw rugs and fireplace and creaking empty rocking chairs.

There's a flash of gold light.

And where there was nothing, now stands a boy. A boy with eyes that flash gold until they fade to brown.

Vanya doesn't flinch. She's used to Five, even after all these years, even thought it was him for a second, with a wild, wild thought of relief, except the hair is wrong and the zap is different and the footfalls don't settle on the floorboards right and-

The shadow of something massive stretching out along the walls, like wings, vast and warm and flickering with power that pushes against Vanya's own uncontrolled waves of power-

And Vanya stops in her tracks.

The whole room goes still.

(HisÂ _eyes_ , Vanya knows eyes like those, knows powers when she sees them, and that is enough to make her catch her breath, because this boy is a stranger-)

The boy is holding out two hands as if he's scared to death.

"Please don't be afraid-" The boy stutters. And he sees her outstretched, shaking palms outstretched past her, stuck in still motion before she stumbled backwards, and holds out her violin left abandoned on the chair. "I can explain-" His words keep tripping over each other, and he hunches over as if he isn't already ridiculous and unassuming in flannel and a button down shirt.

The awkwardness of it almost reminds Vanya of Five again that it hurts, because he's left her too, left all over again, he's come back only to go off on his own to try and stop the Apocalypse and left Vanya out of the plan because he doesn't trust her, and it's like nothing has changed at all, except for that, because they always used to trust each other, always used to hold on when everyone else seemed to pretend Vanya was nothing more than wallpaper-

To make up for the conflict of emotion, the whiplash from pure panic, from being out of control, from the still too-raw feeling of betrayal stinging in her throat, Vanya snatches her belongings from his hands like they'll disappear, and clutches her violin and the bowstring tight, too tight to her chest, ( _what if they snap, what if, then you'll really have nothing-_ )

"Who are you?" She finds words, with them the whole house shakes, and the lights flicker, and the boy glances around like he's not phased in the slightest.

_What are you_ , she doesn't say. 42 children shared her birthday, and only 7 had thought to survive.

And here is someone new, someone with powers.

Someone like her, maybe, except she has no idea how to process anything.

"I'm Jack." Jack answers. Then he looks at Vanya, seems to see right through her, head tilted in a birdlike way that makes Vanya almost laugh at it's strangeness. "Are you okay?"

Vanya isn't quite sure how to answer that.

_I don't know._ She doesn't say.

_Not at all._ She also doesn't say.

Something breaks in the kitchen, and the lights start flickering wildly again.

"How did you get in here?" Vanya finds her voice is a bit higher than usual, but is proud that she's even managing words at all. Her heartbeat has slowed, ever so slightly. The strangeness almost helps. ( _Shock_ , she thinks, _you've really gone and lost it now, youÂ quit your meds cold turkey and now look what's happened_ -)

Only this is weird even for her.

"It was an accident!" Jack says. "I just..." The boy fidgets and looks down.

"Lost control?" Vanya takes a stab in the dark, steadies one shaking breath, feels the air tight in her chest and holds it in if it means the room will stop shivering and the trees will stop rapping on the sides of the walls and the chandelier will stop squeaking-

Jack nods once, face falling. "I panicked."

He still seems completely nonplussed by the things happening around him. Like it's mundane, a day in the life. Some paranoid part of her wants to think that maybe he was sent by her siblings somehow, but the way the kid carries himself...

No one is that good a liar.

Besides, the kid seems way too open to even be tangentially involved in her family. Their father would have snatched anyone else with powers up in an instant if he knew about them, so all in all, this kid seems safe. Lost, and confused, but not someone to fear.

Vanya lets out a strangled laugh and slumps on to the couch, gesturing for Jack to do the same.

"That makes two of us, kid." She breathes, in one-two, out one-two...

She's tired of secrets. Someone being open for once doesn't seem all that bad.

Jack sits up straighter and looks back up with an expression Vanya doesn't want to pretend is hope lighting up his features.

"So that was you!" He starts in excitedly. "I thought... I thought that was just me, but..."

Vanya holds up a hand, pretending that the awe doesn't make her feel both horrible and wonderful. "One thing at a time, okay? I'm... I'm pretty new at this. And you did just show up out of thin air."

Jack swallows and nods, adding, "I'm sorry-"

"It's okay. Just... Let's just talk, okay? Maybe we can get you home, or wherever it was you were trying to go." Vanya tries to remember how to deal with children. She's used to children, teaches them all the time, this shouldn't be so hard-

Except he looks like he's fourteen and has powers, but the rule still stands. While Vanya tries to keep it together, something in the way she measures her breathing seems to set Jack at ease, andÂ the gesture is almost enough to calm them both down as Jack leans back into the sofa.

(What if Leonard comes back-) Vanya suddenly feels a fear she knows is stupid, it's Leonard, he wouldn't hurt a fly, but she shoves that worry down, too.

Knowing Leonard, he'd probably be thrilled to meet someone else with powers provided they weren't part of her immediate family.

"So what's your story?" Vanya asks. Maybe if she doesn't focus on herself, she'll get through this.

Jack looks up, and there's a new, wild look in his eyes. "I wasn't really trying to go anywhere specific. I'm looking for my Dad. Sam Winchester."

The name is unfamiliar, and at Vanya's blank look but newly guarded expression (the subject of fathers makes something bitter light across her mouth, but Vanya pushes that down, too, because she just got a hold of herself, she can focus on a conversation, she can do this-), Jack starts talking faster, words tripping over themselves like he's in a rush as he carefully holds up a picture of some tall guy with long hair who is decked out in a similar set of flannel. "You... Haven't seen anyone else show up here, have you? Wait, that's stupid of me to ask, I mean, it looks like I startled you pretty bad..."

Vanya shakes her head, and interrupts, "That's not on you."

Jack looks like he wants to tiptoe around the subject, looks down at his velcro shoes, and that alone makes Vanya wonder just how old this kid is, or what his story is, or why there's still an echo of fear even with that innocent openness he wears on his sleeve when Jack looks back up again.

That, more than anything, makes Vanya want to spill.

"I just learned I've had them, and they flare up when I'm emotional, and..." Vanya gestures as a gust breaks open the shutters again, and a lightbulb breaks. "They're out of control." Then Vanya swallows, and looks down at her violin in her lap. "Sometimes... Sometimes the music helps focus it, but..."

_But I can't give them up. I don't want to give them up. Maybe that makes me a bad person, but I can't be ordinary, I can't..._ She doesn't say, but she feels like this kid sees right through her, anyway.

"I've always had trouble controlling my powers. Whenever I try to do something, it always seems to go wrong. When I was born... A lot of people thought I'd hurt people, just because of who I am." Jack admits, then leans forward. "But I've met other people like us-"

That alone makes Vanya go still, because there has never been anyone else except the exceptional shadow of her family, and some part of her wants to run off and find these people if it means finding answers, finding a place she might fit...

But Jack's voice keeps going, even and wistful and Vanya can tell there is a warmth there that she doesn't quite know what to make of. She's always been an outsider in her home, and having something contradict that...

( _What if you're an outsider among them, too_ , she doesn't want to think, but she does. But there is hope there, too, hope Vanya doesn't know what to do with, still...)

"And no matter where we came from, what mattered was trying to be good to each other. To be kind, and to treat ourselves how we treat others instead of beating ourselves up. My Dad, and my uncle Cas, they taught me that, and helped me, and the others. Sam has powers, too, and he says that as long as we want to do good, what matters is how we use our power, and what we choose to do with it."

Choosing. How very different from all the rules Vanya pretends haven't ruled over her family her entire life, and something about it all seems too good to be true, but...

Somehow, this kid seems to have it more together than her, and he doesn't even know whereÂ he is right now.

The absurdity almost makes Vanya hyperventilate again, and yeah, maybe the shock of one too many things happening is catching up with her now as her grip on her violin starts to shake again.

Jack suddenly seems even more determined, and gives her a small, shy smile.

"Maybe... I can teach you what he taught me?" He asks.

For some dumb, bizarre reason, Vanya wants to believe him. She wants to believe someone out there is willing to help, and doesn't care about the powers for power's sake, and that there is some solution to a problem Vanya hasn't really ever had words for, for the screaming and the isolation and always being on the periphery waiting to be cast out on the rocks, like she always is.

( _Leonard cares about us_ , part of her mind argues, but then there's the tang of jealousy and the things Vanya keeps locked down push up against that anyway, every time Leonard seems too good to be true and holds her too tight and seems to have more of an interest in her powers, and then Vanya feels guilty because he lost an eye, because of her, all she ever does is hurt people and he still stayed with her and where is he, anyway, and...)

And it's nothing like this kid who showed up out of nowhere and who is just trying to find his way home, with the idea that people like them can be a good thing and not a curse.

Vanya halts her thoughts in her tracks, and makes her decision.

"I'd like that." Vanya answers. "But first, let's figure out how to find your Dad."

**Author's Note:**

> End Notes:
> 
> Ellen Page in Hard Candy was kinda my pre-transition headcanon for Sam in ALPAS thanks to the haircut, so it's funny how this worked out. Also, Umbrella Academy met all my standards for angsty uncommunicative bullshit and dealing with the fallout for abusive shit and manipulative boyfriends. Like, I'm pretty closeted lesbians can connect to going out with the first dude who seems chill thinking that's what attraction is and then finding out they are NOT CHILL is more widespread than not.  
> Otherwise: You can't have 43 special children where only 7 live and not have a crossover guys. The numbers even match. You get 7 with UA, at least 11 with ST, and a bunch from X Men, and at least 8 with SPN.
> 
> Some stuff I wanted to add to this but didn't yet (this was gonna be a Jessica Jones, Stranger Things, X-Men, TUA, and SPN crossover)
> 
> Fives POV:
> 
> The thing about Time Travel is, you're wrong more than you're right, and isn't that the fucking kicker.  
> Now some dude with a helmet is trying to stop some other dude in a wheelchair from adopting these weird new kids with powers, and Cha-Cha and Hazel are in a gunfight with some girl with superhuman strength and that arms dealer who claims magic is real.
> 
> Next to him, some dude in a suit is preparing to fight some lady with white eyes while ranting about the moon being precious real-estate and Diego's new trigger-happy friend is telling him he technically inherited the moon when he died, and if some guy wants to live up there, that isn't any of his fucking business, all while he's watching the Handler catfighting with a bunch of things calling themselves angels.  
> Oh, and apparently there's more than one Apocalypse to worry about, and the guy in a trenchcoat has disappeared to find Vanya and some kid and some guy named Sam to fight the Devil.  
> Yeah, Five really wishes they lived in simpler times, when all he had to worry about was one.  
> \--  
> The year is 1963. John Kennedy's assassination splits off in three distinct directions in three different universes.  
> Two attempts succeed.  
> One does not.  
> \--  
> Dean dialogue I had nowhere to place:
> 
> "Okay, Flowers in the Attic. Look, I get it. Sometimes locking up people seems like the only way. But take it from me, that doesn't fix anything. I've lived that already."  
> \--  
> "Woah, take it easy, Edward Scissorhands. No one has to fight anyone, at least not yet. You're looking for your sister, I'm looking for my brother and my nephew, and we all are working with the same clues. Maybe we can help each other."
> 
> \--
> 
> Canon for if I ever expand on anything related to this so I can find it again:
> 
> "They're still afraid of us. Even after all these years. Afraid of our power."
> 
> "You're not real."
> 
> "We killed Leonard."
> 
> "Because he lied to us."
> 
> "Not about everything."
> 
> "What are you talking about?"
> 
> "You know. You've always known. Our brothers and sister? They're just like Dad. Driven to keep us down. A muted voice. Isolated from the group. Never in the limelight. Never the center of attention. It will never end. Not until we act."
> 
> "But they're our family."
> 
> "They fear you now. You're going to keep you here forever."
> 
> "No."
> 
> "Do you remember what that was like? Staring at these grey walls, hour after hour, day after day, while they played together? Do you want to live like this for the rest of our lives...?"
> 
> "No, no, no..." Vanya sobs.
> 
> "I can't breathe in here, I can't breathe in here."
> 
> "Then do something about it. Embrace who we are. Who we've been all along."


End file.
